1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling temperature in an electronic apparatus such as a computer device, more particularly, to a method of changing the operation of a central processing unit (CPU) based on an information signal identifying the status of a cooling device such as a cooling fan installed within the computer device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a cooling fan is disposed within an enclosure of a computer system. The cooling fan is designed to generate air stream for taking out heat from a CPU and thereafter flowing out of the enclosure. The air stream serves to suppress the interior temperature of the enclosure from increasing. Employment of no cooling fan induces an excessive temperature increase within the enclosure, so that the CPU and other electronic components in the vicinity of the CPU may suffer from any defect or failure of operation.
If the cooling fan fails to properly operate, the heat generated at the CPU cannot be released out of the enclosure enough. In this case, the operation of the CPU is preferably suppressed to reduce the generated heat so that the increase can be avoided in the interior temperature. The suppression can be achieved by a reduced or thinned-out frequency of the clock signal supplied to the CPU, for example.
When the operation of the CPU is to be suppressed, the CPU is expected to receive an interrupt request IRQ for identifying defect or failure of the cooling fan. When the CPU receives the interrupt request IRQ, the CPU is designed to temporarily discontinue the current primary processing so as to realize establishment of a reduced or thinned-out frequency of the clock signal in an interruption processing. As a result of suppression of the operation in the CPU in this manner, an excessive increase can be prevented in the interior temperature of the enclosure.
The interrupt request IRQ is usually supplied from a system controller such as a chipset, for example. The system controller is thus required to include a hardware or electronic component for generating an interrupt request IRQ. The circuit structure of the system controller inevitably gets complicated. In addition, reduction in size cannot be achieved in the system controller due to the hardware for generating an interrupt request IRQ.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a temperature controller circuit capable of managing the interior temperature of an electronic apparatus with a simpler circuit structure, and a method therefor.
According to the present invention, there is provided a temperature controller circuit for an electronic apparatus, comprising: a central processing unit (CPU); an interrupt request generating unit generating an interrupt request signal based on a temperature information signal identifying a temperature and designed to output the interrupt request signal to the central processing unit; and an input unit designed to supply to the central processing unit a status information signal identifying status of a cooling device.
Employment of the above-described temperature controller circuit may serve to implement a method of controlling temperature in an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. The method may comprise: obtaining an interrupt request signal based on a temperature information signal for identifying a temperature; obtaining a status information signal for identifying status of a cooling device in response to reception of the interrupt request signal; and changing operation of a central processing unit based on the status information signal.
With the above-described method, the central processing unit (CPU) is allowed to utilize the temperature information signal, identifying the temperature, so as to commence an interruption processing for controlling the temperature. During the interruption processing, the CPU is designed to recognize the status of the cooling device in accordance with the status information signal. An additional hardware is not required to accompany the CPU so as to solely generate an interrupt request signal based on the status of the cooling device. The circuit structure of the temperature controller circuit can be simplified.
In general, in the case where the cooling device is employed to control the temperature in the electronic apparatus, a failure or defect of the cooling device can be ignored if the temperature is properly controlled, in other words, if the temperature stays below a predetermined temperature. If an interrupt request signal is designed to be generated in response to the failure or defect of the cooling device as is conventionally known, the operation of the CPU is correspondingly interrupted irrespective of the proper temperature in the electronic apparatus. On the other hand, according to the present invention, the temperature information signal is designed to trigger the generation of the interrupt request signal, so that the CPU is reliably prevented from suffering from a frequent interruption during the operation as long as the temperature is properly controlled irrespective of a failure or defect of the cooling device.
A temperature detector or thermal sensor may be connected to the interrupt request generating unit so as to measure the actual temperature within the enclosure of the electronic apparatus. The thermal sensor serves to achieve a proper generation of the interrupt request signal in correspondence with variation in the actual temperature within the enclosure of the electronic apparatus. The control of the cooling device based on the thus generated interrupt request signal serves to avoid an excessive increase in the temperature within the enclosure of the electronic apparatus. The thermal sensor may be designed to directly measure the temperature of the CPU.
For example, the input unit may comprise a general purpose input (GPI) circuit incorporated within a system controller (chipset) or a so-called ultra I/O (Input/Output). The system controller and the ultra I/O are in general designed to support the operation of the CPU. The system controller may comprise a north bridge connected to the CPU through a system bus, and a south bridge connected to the north bridge through a PCI bus, for example.
The cooling device may include a cooling fan designed to generate air stream for taking out heat from the CPU, for example. However, the cooling device is not limited to the cooling fan. The cooling device is only required to prevent an excessive increase in the temperature within the enclosure of the electronic apparatus by any means.
In the aforementioned method, the operation of the CPU may be suppressed in response to reception of the status information signal identifying a failure or defect of the cooling device. The suppression in the operation of the CPU serves to suppress heat generated at the CPU. Accordingly, an increase in the temperature within the enclosure can be suppressed. The suppressed operation of the CPU may also be achieved when the status information signal identifies a compulsive termination of the operation of the cooling device due to an intentional reduction in energy consumption.
In the aforementioned method, a thinned-out clock signal may be supplied to the central processing unit so as to suppress the operation of the central processing unit. Likewise, a clock signal of a lower clock frequency may be supplied to the central processing unit so as to suppress the operation of the central processing unit. Otherwise, a software managing the overall system such as an operating system (OS) may be suspended or shut down in suppressing the operation of the CPU.
Furthermore, the aforementioned method may be realized by a computer software such as a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The computer software maybe installed to the computer system from a mobile storage media such as a magnetic disk, including an FD (floppy disk), an optical disk, including a CD (compact disk), or the like. Alternatively, the computer software may be installed to the computer system through a network such as the Internet.